


The Quiet

by Just A Couple Of Death Priests (WalkOnThroughARedParade)



Series: Life Lessons [7]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: But mostly Edwin's, Character death is temporary bc I fuckin said it is, M/M, Tris is Sad and it's all Brendon and Edwin's fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 11:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13809891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WalkOnThroughARedParade/pseuds/Just%20A%20Couple%20Of%20Death%20Priests
Summary: He had been prepared toleave.In the forest he’d been more scared than...whatever this was. Unsure if he really knew his friends, if they were for him as he’d thought. He had been ready to pack up and go, and leave them to their own devices as he continued his mission.But Nirn had told him to stay.Alternatively; In Which Things Are Complicated And Unfair





	The Quiet

Tris cupped Talon’s face in his hands, thumbs caressing his cheeks gently where his head was pillowed in his lap; and shut his eyes tightly, letting out a shuddering, painful breath.

This wasn’t fair.

He’d been prepared to leave. After last night, after the jailbreak, he’d been ready to leave his friends, to continue his mission alone. He had never wanted to make Mhèirì sad, or disappoint Quick Branch. He’d never meant to put Talon in a position where he felt it was necessary to hurt an innocent person; because he had no doubt Talon would have found an easier, sneakier way to escape had he not been dragging Tris’ dead weight along with him.

Tris had made things difficult. The more he thought back on things the more certain he was that he bore equal, if not greater blame for Talon’s actions.

And he had been prepared to  _ leave _ .

In the forest he’d been more scared than...whatever this was. Unsure if he really knew his friends, if they were for him as he’d thought. He had been ready to pack up and go, and leave them to their own devices as he continued his mission.

But Nirn had told him to stay.

Tris tucked some of Talon’s hair back behind a pointed ear, smoothing the dark strands into place, and reached, hands shaking slightly, to rest fingers against his throat. The break was no longer visible, spine straightened carefully in preparation for their future attempt to bring him back; but he couldn’t help touching the area like it was fragile, like pressing too hard would break his neck all over again.

Nirn had told him to  _ stay _ . He had said Tris’ new friends were good for him. Talon couldn’t leave so soon after Nirn had said he was good for Tris, it wasn’t  _ fair _ .

And Tris had felt nothing that told him Talon’s time had well and truly come. Not when he’d been pleading with the halflings to help them, not while he’d cradled Talon’s body and pumped every drop of healing magic he had into him. There had been no sign at all, favourable or not; and he couldn’t believe They would allow him to stay if Talon was meant to stay...to not come back. He would not be granted the time to go on a pointless quest. Not when there were more important things he was expected to do.

“You are not allowed to leave,” he whispered, quiet but firm down at the unmoving half elf; and he had to swallow hard to fight the lump rising in his throat when there was no answer, eyes flooding with hot tears while he fought them desperately.

Talon should have been smiling at him. He should have been smirking up at him, making some joke about never leaving, or asking if Tris missed him.

Tris should have  _ healed him _ .

That last spell he’d used to heal himself should have been for Talon instead. He should have  _ seen _ how hurt he was, should have helped him instead of worrying about himself. And he should have aimed better with his spells against the hyena, and killed the Gnolls faster, and he should have- he should have done so much. He should have protected his friend.

Talon should be alive. He should have taken care of him.

Tris sobbed softly, tears breaking through, and scrubbed at his face with the sleeves of his shirt in a desperate attempt to stop any of them falling on the cold, pale face of the boy cradled in his lap. It felt like there were cracks breaking through his chest, or like his lungs were half full of sand, making each breath difficult and ineffective until he was wheezing and sobbing over Talon’s body; and he jumped when he felt someone wrap their arms around his shoulders, before instinctively turning to bury his face in Mhèirì’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around her and crying into her hair as she hugged him back tightly.

“It is okay,” she whispered, stroking his back and combing her fingers through his hair. Tris hugged her harder, unable to stifle the sobs even as he tried to speak.

“I should have p-protected him b-better. I c-could have s-saved him.”

Mhèirì made a soft, sad noise, and cuddled him harder; and Tris wondered, face buried in her hair, if this was what having a mother was like. If this was what he’d missed out on; the comfort, the promises that things were fine even if they really, truly weren’t.

He wondered whether Talon had a mother, somewhere, waiting for news of her son.

The thought made him sob harder, and he sank his teeth into his bottom lip in an attempt to shut himself up.

“You cannot blame yourself, Tris. It was not your fault. And we will get him back, so it will all be okay.” Her voice was soothing and confident, and Tris wanted to let it wash over him, to allow himself to be comforted; but a thought lingered at the back of his mind, persistent and holding him back, and he pulled out of her grip enough to look her in the face, breaths still laboured while his sobs finally started to abate.

“The last time we were alone, I punched him. He probably died believing I was still angry with him. What if we fail, and he doesn’t come back? What...what if I never get to talk to him again?”

Mhèirì reached to smooth some of his curls back out of his face, and he dropped his eyes, feeling stupid for the fear even as he reached to hold Talon’s face again. He shut his eyes tightly, leaning into the touch a little when Mhèirì stroked some of the tears from his face, and let out a shuddering, painful breath before he opened them again and curled over the body of the other boy, kissing his forehead softly.

Mhèirì smoothed her thumb over the back of his neck, the touch soothing, and when he straightened he felt a little better.

“We will talk about everything that happened when he is back with us again. Which he will be, Tris. I know he will.” Again, she sounded  _ so confident _ , so sure of herself and the words she spoke, and this time instead of fighting her he let the same confidence wash over him, forcing himself to believe her.

Talon would come back. They would find the people the halflings had directed them to, and he would come back, and things would be okay.

“Things will be okay,” he whispered, like saying it out loud would help him to believe it; and he saw Mhèirì smile at him sadly out of the corner of his eye, felt her reach to tuck another curl back behind his ear, the way Talon did sometimes.

Things would be okay. They  _ had _ to be.


End file.
